Here are some fun and fascinating facts about the Saluki that will surely surprise a lot of people!
The Saluki is a very old breed that came into existence a very long time ago. The name of this breed is inspired by an Arabian city that no longer exists but was present in the middle east region thousands of years ago. The name of that city was also Saluki and people at that time felt that this name appropriately described the essence of these tall and slender canines.
Saluki may be the official name of this breed, but these canines are also known by a lot of different monikers. Some of their most famous alternate names are Gazelle Hounds, Persian Greyhounds, Persian Sighthounds et cetera.
Sighthounds are the type of canines that use their sense of vision and direction rather than their nose to hunt down their preys. And the Saluki canines were known to heavily rely on their eyesight to track down various games/animals, hence they were (and are still) also called as Persian Sighthounds.
Based on the length of their coat, Saluki dogs are available in two different types. The ones that have a long and feathery coat are known as Feathered Saluki and the others that possess a shorter coat are called as Smooth-coated Saluki. There is just a little bit of difference in the grooming requirements of both these Salukis, the long-haired dogs may need to be brushed a bit more than the smooth-coated ones so as to avoid any hair tangling issues.
Archeological evidence in the form of sculptures and tomb paintings that are present in the middle east proves that the Saluki is an immensely old breed and it came into existence at least four to five thousand years ago.
This breed was very well respected in the olden times. They were considered a nobility and Egyptian Pharaohs used to treat them with the utmost respect. These dogs were considered to be sacred and a gift from God himself and that’s why there were given various honors and titles such as ‘El Hor’ which means ‘The Noble.’ Also, this was the only canine breed that was allowed to sleep in tents at night with their owners.
The Egyptian nobility treated these canines with such high regard that they didn’t even want to lose them after their death as well. It is believed that Salukis were often mummified in the ancient time and to this day, the remains of these canines are sometimes found beside the bodies of their owners.
After the first World War, Saluki canines started to move out from the middle east to different parts of the world. They first came to the United Kingdom with the British officers and soldiers that brought these canines along with them from the middle east. Later, they moved to other locations as well like the United States and gradually they became fairly famous all over the world because of their glorious past. And in the year 1929, the American Kennel Club decided to register these canines as a distinct breed.
These canines are not known for their expressive and gregarious personality like some other breeds are. Salukis are calm and composed canines that mostly remain fairly reserved and quiet around strangers. These pooches do not like to interact with a lot of people and they are happy to spend most of their time alone. And that is why these pooches are considered to be a bit aloof and independent and because of this, training these canines also becomes a lot more difficult than it actually is.
Salukis are very fast runners. They may seem like a fragile and thin breed, but they are exceptionally athletic in nature and they also possess great stamina and endurance. The average running speeds of a fully-grown Saluki lies somewhere between the range of 48-56 Kmph and the maximum speed that a Saluki can attain while running is around 69 Kmph, which is just mind-blowing for a canine with such an elegant appearance and lean body.